Folding apparatus of packing films



Feb. 10,1970 TOMOSABURO SUZUKI v 3,494,096

FOLDING APPARATUS OF PACKING FILMS Filed Sept. 7. 1967 T t O INVENTO United States Patent 3,494,096 FOLDING APPARATUS 0F PACKING FILMS Tomosaburo Suzuki, Tokyo, Japan, assignor to Tokyo Kikaika Kogyo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan Filed Sept. 7, 1967, Ser. No. 666,081 Int. Cl. B65b 9/06 US. Cl. 53-183 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pair of guide members, each including first and second edges intersecting at an angle, are disposed with their second edges in spaced parallel relationship to define a gap therebetween. A packing film is fed through the gap around the first and second edges of the guide members and is folded along its longitudinal direction into slot like configuration. Articles to be packed are successively fed into the slot through the gap. Means are provided to vary the width of the gap thus enabling the packing of articles of various thickness by the same packing apparatus.

This invention relates to an apparatus for longitudinally folding packing films into slot like configuration.

In packing machines for packing and sealing articles it has been the practice to longitudinally fold packing films into slot like configuration and to feed the articles into the slots, then suitably seal the packed articles as by welding and separate packed articles into separate units. Conventional folding apparatus have been designed to pack articles of particular dimensions and configurations. In other words, folded films or the slots prepared therefrom have a definite size so that they could not be used for articles of different dimensions or thickness. Thus, conventional folding apparatus required different folding apparatus for different articles dependent upon their dimensions.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel folding apparatus for packing films which can effectively pack articles of various dimensions, especially of different thickness.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel folding apparatus for packing films which can fold the packing films along their longitudinal direction into slot like configurations of any desired width thus enabling the packing of different thickness.

According to this invention there is provided a folding apparatus for packing films comprising a pair of guide members, each including first and second edges intersecting at an angle, the second edges of said guide members being spaced from each other and disposed in parallel to define a gap therebetween, and the first edges of said guide members also intersecting at an angle, means are provided to adjust the relative position of said pair of guide members to vary the width of said gap and there are means to feed packing films through said gap around said first and second guide members thus folding said films along their longitudinal direction into slot like configuration. Articles to be packed are successively fed into folded packing films through the gap and the packing film around respective articles is suitably sealed, as by welding, thus completing the packing operation. By varying the width of the gap between opposing guide members, and hence the width of the slot comprised by the folded films, articles of different dimensions can be readily packed by the same folding apparatus.

The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as to its organiza tion together with further objects and advantages thereof may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a folding apparatus embodying this invention; and

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the folding apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing there is shown a preferred embodiment of this invention comprising a pair of guide members 1 and 1' which are disposed to define therebetween a passage or gap 2 into which articles to be packed are successively supplied by a mechanism to be described later. The guide members 1 and 1 are provided with edges 3 and 4 and 3' and 4' respectively which intersect each other at respective corners 5 and 5' at substantially right angles. Although guide members 1 and 1' are shown as triangular plates they may be of any other suitable configuration, such for example as, rectangular frames, so long as they are formed with first edges 3 and 3' and parallel second edges 4 and 4 intersecting at respective corners 5 and 5. As best shown in FIG. 2, first edges 3 and 3 are disposed to intersect each other at substantially right angles. In the embodiment shown, the guide member 1 is positioned above the guide member 1' and a horizontal article conveying plate 6 is provided at substantially the same level as the second edge 4 of the lower guide member 1. An upright guide plate 7 is secured to the conveying plate 6 to extend from the corner 5 in the direction of pulling out B of the packing film A supplied from a bobbin 8.

The invention is characterized in that the relative position of guide members 1 and 1 is adjustable in order to vary the Width of article receiving passage or gap 2 between guide members 1 and 1. One example of the mechanism provided for this purpose is illustrated in FIG. 2. More particularly, supporting plates 10 and 10' are secured to the back of guide members 1 and 1 respectively, said supporting plates being provided with arms 11 and 11' adapted to journal a vertical shaft 12. The lower arm 11' may be fixed at any desired position along the shaft 12 by means of a set screw 13, for example. The upper arm 11, however, is free to slide along the shaft 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide plate 7 is secured on the upper surface of the conveying plate 6 by means of wing nuts engaging vertical threaded studs secured to the arm 11'. An operating threaded rod 15 is provided, the lower end thereof being supported by the arm 11'. An operating handle 16 is secured on the upper end of the threaded rod 15.

Thus it will be seen that by rotating the operating handle 16, the guide member 1 will be raised or lowered dependent upon the direction of rotation of the handle whereby to vary as desired the gap between guide members 1 and 1. The packing film A payed out from the bobbin 8 is passed around a rod 9 and is then passed through the gap 2 to advance in the direction shown by an arrow B while being guided by edges 3, 3', 4 and 4. By this movement the packing film A will be folded along its longitudinal direction into *a slot like configuration, as shown in FIG. 1. Articles to be packed are successively fed into the gap 2 from the front side thereof as viewed in FIG. 1 and are then moved With the packing film A while contained in said slot. Open edges D of the packing film A are then suitably sealed, as by welding and intermediate point between adjacent articles is also suitably sealed and cut to provide individual packed articles.

As can be noted from the above described embodiment, according to thi invention a pair of guide members are provided having first and second edges intersecting at an angle with the second edges arranged in parallel and first edges intersecting each other. Further the relative position of said guide members is made variable to vary the gap into which articles to be packed and packing film therefor are fed. Accordingly, by utilizing packing films with sufficient width and by varying the width of the gap 2 it is possible to form slots of any desired width and depth C so that articles of various sizes can be positively packed by the same packing apparatus whether they may be cubes of relatively large height or a flat plate like configuration.

While other modifications of thi invention and variations of apparatus which may be employed within the scope of this invention have not been described, the invention is intended to include all such as may be embraced within the following claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An apparatus for folding packing film, comprising in combination:

(a) a vertically disposed bobbin for holding a packing film rolled thereon;

(b) an upright vertical shaft for supporting the folding components of the apparatus;

(c) a lower guide member fixed to said shaft and an upper guide member moveably disposed over said lower guide member, said guide members each having first and second edges intersecting at an angle, said first edges forming a wide angle of substantially 4. equal sides extending outwards so as to receivethe width of packing film therebetween, said second edges being spaced from each other and disposed in parallel to define a horizontal gap therebetween for the passage of said packing film; and,

((1) vertical adjustment means to adjust the vertical space between said second edges.

2. The folding apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said guide members are in the form of triangle and said first edges are disposed to intersect at substantially right angles.

3. The folding apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said guide member are in the form of rectangular frames.

4. The folding apparatus according to claim 1 wherein means is provided to successively feed articles to be packed into said folded films through said gap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1956 Randall 93-2.0 1/1960 Podlesak et al 53180 X 

